Jeff Cottrill

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(Canadian OH&S News) — An industrial accident at a construction site in Peterborough, Ont. has killed a male worker, 56, during the ongoing expansion of the city’s Bensfort Landfill.

The victim was an employee of Drain Brothers Excavating, a Norwood-based construction firm that the City of Peterborough had contracted to build the new trash pit. A falling pipe caused the worker’s death on the afternoon of Nov. 10, according to information from the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and the Ontario Ministry of Labour (MOL).

“I believe there’d been one of the employees down there working with some heavy equipment, and I understand a piece of debris may have fallen from that equipment and killed the other worker,” said Constable Jason Folz, a media representative with the OPP’s Peterborough County detachment. “I don’t know the specifics, the actual mechanics of the accident itself.”

Const. Folz could not confirm further details of the accident at the time. “We’re still investigating that.”

The MOL was notified of the accident on the same afternoon and dispatched an inspector to the worksite immediately.

“The employer, who is Drain Brothers Excavating Limited, they were issued two orders,” explained MOL communications rep Janet Deline. “One order is to store and move material or equipment at a program in a manner that does not endanger a worker. And the other one is to provide documentation.” But the company has not been ordered to stop work, she said.

Neither Deline nor Const. Folz could confirm the time of the incident, but media reports have stated that it occurred at about 2 p.m. on the 10th. Emergency crews were reportedly still in the pit three hours later.

“So far, that’s all we have at the moment, and our investigation is ongoing,” said Deline.

A coroner’s investigation was also in progress, said Const. Folz. “And we’re assisting the coroner’s office with that investigation,” he added.

Drain Brothers and the City of Peterborough’s waste-management department did not respond to COHSN’s request for comment.